AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE

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AHL grads Chelios, Shero voted into Hall of Fame

July 9, 2013

The Hockey Hall of Fame on Tuesday announced that American Hockey League alumni Chris Chelios and Fred Shero are part of the induction class of 2013.

Chelios and Shero will be enshrined with Geraldine Heaney, Scott Niedermayer and Brendan Shanahan on Nov. 11.

Chelios played 1,651 games in the National Hockey League, more than any other defenseman in league history. He won the Stanley Cup three times and was a three-time recipient of the Norris Trophy, and represented the United States in the Olympics four times.

Chelios skated in two games with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins in 2008-09, then spent most of the 2009-10 season with the Chicago Wolves, notching five goals, 17 assists and a plus-34 rating (tied for sixth in the AHL) in 46 regular-season games. Chelios appeared in 14 Calder Cup Playoff contests that spring, including his final pro game on May 11, 2010 (vs. Texas) at the age of 48.

Shero, who passed away in 1990, was the first man in history to win both the Calder Cup and the Stanley Cup as a head coach, a feat accomplished only five times since then (Al MacNeil, Mike Keenan, Bob Hartley, John Tortorella, Peter Laviolette). He is also one of five men ever named Coach of the Year in both the AHL (Buffalo, 1970) and the NHL (Philadelphia, 1974).

Shero played in the AHL with the New Haven Ramblers, Cincinnati Mohawks and Cleveland Barons, winning back-to-back titles with the Barons in 1953 and 1954. He later spent three seasons as head coach of the Buffalo Bisons (1967-70), capturing the Calder Cup in 1970.

Shero coached the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup in 1974 and 1975, and reached the Finals with the Flyers in 1976 and with the New York Rangers in 1979.

Since its first members were honored in 1945, a total of 115 players, coaches, officials and managers with ties to the American Hockey League have been selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.